Donovin Lee Darius (born August 12, 1975) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He was drafted by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

25th overall in the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

, and played for nine seasons with the team. He played for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

College career

Darius played for two years at

Highland Regional High School Highland Regional High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Blackwood, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Gloucester Township in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. The school is part of th ...

Blackwood, New Jersey Blackwood is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Gloucester Township, in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

before transferring in his junior year. Darius is a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

. Darius played at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, setting the team record for tackles by a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

with 379. He was a

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

All-Conference player in 1995 and 1996, and also

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

in indoor and outdoor

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

, graduating in 1997 with a degree in exercise science and a minor in coaching.

Professional career

Darius was selected 25th overall in the

by the

, then the highest pick ever by the team for a defensive back. He was the sixth defensive back selected, behind

Tebucky Jones Tebucky Shermain Jones (born October 6, 1974) is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL). His professional career began when he was drafted out of Syracuse University in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft by th ...

Duane Starks Duane Lonell Starks (born May 23, 1974) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens 10th overall in the 1998 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami. Starks, who earned a Super Bowl ...

, and others. He was named to the All-Rookie team and led Jaguar defensive backs with 108 tackles in 14 games. In 1999, he switched to strong safety and continued to sharpen his skills as a defensive force. In 2004, Darius led the secondary in tackles for a seventh straight season and posted career highs in forced fumbles and interceptions. His season-ending injury in 2005 stopped his consecutive start streak at 37. In 2004, Darius was ejected and fined $75,000 for an illegal clothesline tackle on

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

wide receiver Robert Ferguson. However, Darius later apologized to Ferguson for the incident by calling him at the hospita

Prior to his release, he had been with the Jaguars longer than any other active player along with

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Fred Taylor. Darius signed a three-year extension on August 29, 2005 which put him under contract through

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. However, he tore his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

during the Jaguars' second game of the

2005 NFL season The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League. Regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006. The regular season also saw the first ever regular season game played outside the United ...

and was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. On November 20, 2006, during a ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

'' game against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, he broke his leg and missed the rest of the 2006 season. On December 14, 2006, Darius was released by the Jaguars. Donovin signed with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

on January 1, 2007, but was released in the final roster cuts. He was subsequently signed by the

, but was released again in October. Darius signed a one-day ceremonial contract with the Jaguars on March 1, 2013 to retire as a member of the team. He currently serves on the

NFL Players Association The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeM ...

Executive Committee and resides in Jacksonville, Florida, where he earned an MBA from Jacksonville University

Personal life

According to the

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) is a joint city-county law enforcement agency, which has primary responsibility for law enforcement, investigation, and corrections within the consolidated City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida, Uni ...

, Darius was arrested and charged with

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

after crashing his car on the morning of January 26, 2020. He was subsequently transported to a Jacksonville area hospital for a mental health evaluation after telling rescue workers he had ingested 20 to 30 pills and that he was suicidal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darius, Donovin American football safeties Jacksonville Jaguars players Oakland Raiders players Miami Dolphins players Syracuse Orange football players 1975 births Living people Players of American football from Camden, New Jersey Woodrow Wilson High School (New Jersey) alumni